The Martial Alliance Leader’s Son
He had probably wondered about this at least once.
Why was it that a single force like the Blood Sect or the Demon Sect could rise up and try to seize the Central Plains?
Wasn’t that strange?
Even if they were holed up in places like the Ten Thousand Great Mountains or the Tianshan Range and building their strength there, the righteous side’s territory was several times larger than theirs, and the number of talented disciples and precious medicinal treasures was dozens of times greater.
As for the Nine Great Sects, they were nothing but a bunch of lunatics who skipped meals and trained day and night just so they could kill someone once in their lives.
And to rise up meant to challenge such military powers head-on.
“……”
They weren’t idiots, so they would never move unless victory was within reach.
They must have had hundreds of spies spread throughout the Central Plains.
They’d weighed everything and only risen because they were confident they could win.
“Kyaaahhh!!!”
There were probably many reasons for that confidence, but one of them was...
“Cheon Sojin! You, you bastard…! What do you think you’re doing right now!! Get back here at once!”
As if I’d done this without thinking.
My provocation had worked better than expected; the bastard’s eyes widened, and he charged straight at me.
I let go of the soft thing in my hands, quickly scooped up Ju Yeonhwa, and leaped backward in one long bound.
“Kyah!”
As befitted his reputation, his sword form swept horizontally toward me.
Shk—
The hem of my robe was sliced away.
He’s fast.
I slipped out of the blade’s path by the skin of my teeth.
It wasn’t powered by inner force, but it was still a vicious strike.
Without Pungsinbo, I would’ve taken a serious loss.
“Tch.”
He followed up with another series of forms, but since I’d already escaped the range with his first strike, none of them reached me.
The bastard clicked his tongue and reset his stance.
“You dodged that? You’re pretty good at running away, I’ll give you that. But how long do you think you can keep running?”
Wei Shiyun pointed his sword tip at me with a smug expression.
He still hadn’t grasped the situation.
“Go on, then.”
“You’re laughing? Fine.”
He looked as though he thought he had all the time in the world.
But the one running out of time wasn’t me.
It was him.
“……”
“This is your last chance. Right now...”
He glanced behind me and fell silent.
“I heard screaming from over there... Did something happen?”
“Weren’t those guys fighting each other just like last time?”
“The formal martial duel hasn’t even started yet. Fighting again? Ugh. I’m sick of it.”
“I don’t care. I was bored anyway. Let’s go take a look.”
Hearing the commotion, people began gathering one by one.
I shrugged and looked at him.
“Not going to keep going?”
“……”
“If the story gets around that the Martial Alliance Leader’s son drew his sword just to hit on a girl, everybody’s going to love that.”
He stood there as if he were trying hard to act like nothing was wrong, but his pupils trembled faintly.
As more and more onlookers gathered, the tip of his sword slowly dipped lower.
“You planned this? Don’t tell me you think I wouldn’t be able to do anything to you because I’m afraid of the disciples’ eyes?”
He knew exactly what was going on.
I’d bet on it.
“What the hell? ...That’s Wei Shiyun!”
“Wei Shiyun drew a sword on a disciple?”
“Didn’t he argue last time that anyone fighting inside the academy should be severely punished?”
“He’s always going on about how the weak should be protected and cared for, and now he’s pointing a sword at someone else.”
“I can’t believe Wei Shiyun would be like that...”
The lofty words people liked to spout always came back to bite them at moments like this.
I’d seen through his two-faced nature from the very first time we met, but the other disciples seemed unfamiliar with this side of Wei Shiyun, and the murmur around us only grew louder.
“No, there must be some reason. We don’t know the whole story yet.”
“Exactly. What do you people know about Lord Wei Shiyun!!”
A promising young talent of the righteous faction. The son of the Martial Alliance Leader. A prodigy without precedent.
I didn’t exactly have room to ruin my own image any further, but he did.
“……”
“What are you doing?”
After glancing around nervously for a while, he finally sheathed his sword, just as I’d expected.
“Hah... Just you wait, Cheon Sojin. I won’t forget this.”
He shoved through the crowd and sprinted off in the opposite direction.
Normally, the son of the Martial Alliance Leader would’ve been positioned as the protagonist’s rival, but the bastard disappeared after proudly showcasing his own pettiness to the very end.
There were probably reasons why the Blood Sect and Demon Sect were rising up, but one of them had to be...
They felt safe because the so-called promising young disciples were all like this.
I’ve wasted my time.
The instant Wei Shiyun left, the disciples lost interest and began dispersing one after another.
I turned toward the training room.
No, I tried to.
Ju Yeonhwa was gripping my sleeve tightly.
She’d done a perfect job serving as the alarm that gathered the disciples, so there was no more use for her now, but...
Was she doing this because I’d touched her chest?
“...Miss Ju, what is it? Wei Shiyun’s already run off, so you should go your own way too.”
“Th-that... I wanted to thank you. You’ve helped me not once, but twice already...”
Her face turned red as a ripe persimmon.
Again with this?
I understood what she meant, but that didn’t make it any more welcome.
“It’s fine. How could I just pass by someone in trouble? Don’t worry about it. I’m busy, so if you’ll excuse me...”
Still, she didn’t let go.
“No. Please, just a moment. I really want to repay you today, so please don’t refuse me.”
“……”
Ju Yeonhwa breathed hard and looked at me with determined eyes.
Given what happened at the martial training yard last time...
This is going to drag on.
I needed an appropriate excuse.
I took off the robe she’d been clutching and handed it to her.
“Huh?”
“Miss Ju, then would you mind washing my clothes as repayment? I’m not very good at laundry...”
I let the sentence trail off ambiguously.
“Ah, n-no, not something like that, something else...”
“Please.”
I cut her off firmly, and she stared blankly at me before slowly nodding.
I’d already wasted a whole one-dangyeok of time.
One-dangyeok: 15 minutes
I couldn’t afford to delay any longer.
It was an easy favor, so it shouldn’t be difficult.
After opening the back door and stepping outside, Ju Yeonhwa shoved her face into the robe and inhaled.
“Sniff sniff. Mmgh—haaah...”
“Miss Ju?”
When I called her, her eyes widened like a startled meerkat.
“Ah! Y-you’re still here...?”
“……”
“T-this isn’t weird or anything! I was just checking the fabric’s condition! Don’t misunderstand!”
“……”
I was going to need to buy a new robe.
“Kraaaah!”
At the loud scream that rang out from outside, I set my teacup down on the table.
“……”
I let out a quiet sigh.
Another fight?
There were too many people here who were below the academy’s standards.
To think even basic tea ceremony had to be interrupted by noise like that...
“Lady Jihee, I’ll go find out what’s going on.”
Dorin set down her teacup and jumped to her feet.
I’d told her repeatedly not to spring up so recklessly, but apparently she still hadn’t learned.
Haa...
But I couldn’t lose my temper so ungracefully.
I was a woman of the Guyang family.
“No, there’s no need. It’s probably nothing serious. Sit down.”
“...Yes.”
I lifted my tea again and took a sip.
As expected, it’s excellent.
The deep fragrance calmed me a little.
“A lot of people think tea is just hot water and tea leaves.”
“As Lady Jihee says, yes. It’s such a shame.”
“They’re truly uncultured. Only by steeping tea at a very carefully controlled temperature does it reveal its true flavor and aroma.”
“Lady Jihee, you’re absolutely right.”
Guyang Jihee looked at the girl sitting across from her.
“So-eun really is sharp. You’re doing well.”
“Not at all... I can’t even begin to compare to Lady Jihee.”
Hibun-uyuhyang.
Before drinking, she inhaled the tea’s fragrance through her nose.
Watching her follow instruction so faithfully, I could see the potential for her to become a woman of refinement.
With proper guidance, she might become an elegant woman like me.
“Dorin, you should try it too. You didn’t forget the order, did you?”
“Of course I di—”
The instant Dorin reached for the teacup, a noisy shout came from outside.
“Hey! Is that true?”
Haa... Honestly, these people wouldn’t know manners if they found them washed up on the shore.
Jeongdo Academy clearly admitted only the sons and daughters of the more powerful or famous sects from across the Central Plains after a strict screening process...
And yet there were still quite a few people here who couldn’t even manage the basics.
“...Ah.”
An image of her former fiancé suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Why is that man coming to mind all of a sudden...? That’s irritating.
Guyang Jihee took a sip of tea, waiting for the uninvited guests in the hallway to leave.
“What’s all the fuss about?”
“Wei Shiyun’s beating the hell out of the other kids under the pretense of a friendly spar.”
But the conversation they were having was something she couldn’t ignore.
No... It must be someone else with the same name. He does have the flaw of liking women a little too much, but he’s not that thoughtless.
Yet her hopes were shattered almost immediately.
“Wei Shiyun? No way. You mean the Wei Shiyun I know?”
“Yeah, the son of the Martial Alliance Leader. He’s out there thrashing the kids right now.”
“That sounds fun. Let’s go. When else are we going to get to see Wei Shiyun’s martial arts?”
Before long, she heard the sound of them heading down the stairs.
And he had the gall to tell me not to be so reckless...
What an absurd man.
“……”
She set her teacup down with a sharp clack and rose to her feet.
“Lady Jihee?”
“...Tea time is over for today. Something urgent has come up, so I’m going to leave first.”
****
For several days, I devoted myself to training.
“……”
After collecting the surging yin energy, I finished my breathing and circulation exercises.
I slowly dispersed the inner force settling in my dantian, then refined my qi once more.
When I ran the Lesser Heavenly Circulation, the energy moved smoothly along my meridians.
It was a task I’d repeated so many times that soon enough, pure sun-moon qi—free of all impurities—took root in my dantian.
And when that qi became a seed and bloomed into a flower,
a spark of clarity shone in my eyes.
“Next is the Blood Demon Pill...”
A special elixir consumed by those who practiced demonic arts.
The blood-red bead in my palm gleamed with a chill that made it look sinister at a glance.
Should I eat this now?
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